About Rob

Raised by a single mother, Rob McCord understands the challenges Pennsylvania families face and what it takes to create opportunities for success.

Starting at the age of four, McCord and his older brother were raised by their mom to believe in the power of education and hard work. She helped Rob overcome learning challenges and turn his academic success in Pennsylvania’s public schools into admission to Harvard and later the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

“My mom was a public schoolteacher, so it’s no surprise she believed that education was the launching pad for whatever you wanted to do,” McCord recalls. “Not everything came easy for us, but Mom made sure we had the opportunity to get a good education, and that made all the difference. That’s what I want for Pennsylvania families today.”

McCord currently lives in Montgomery County with his wife and two sons less than a mile from the home where he, his brother, and his mom lived.

Prior to being elected treasurer, McCord managed more than one billion dollars in assets and raised money for start-up companies that created more than 2,000 jobs in Pennsylvania.

As an independent business leader, McCord served as co-founder and Managing Director of Pennsylvania Early Stage Partners — a family of three venture funds that invested in early-stage life-science and information technology firms; and he co-founded the Eastern Technology Fund, a successful provider of funding that served more than 800 innovative companies. His experience in these roles has helped him use the treasurer’s office to make innovative investments in Pennsylvania.

As treasurer, McCord has shunned the old politics and used his energy and experience to guide the state through one of the most difficult economic periods in history. His common sense leadership has resulted in an impressive turnaround in the treasurer’s office, helping retirees, students, and Pennsylvania taxpayers.

McCord also repaired the $1.5 billion PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan, taking it from 70 percent to 100 percent funded in three years, making college more accessible for families across the state. McCord has also led a record-breaking turnaround in investments in one of the most challenging markets in history. Under his leadership, Treasury generated historically strong investment returns and more than $2.1 billion for the state, and McCord helped generate many billions more in returns for the state’s two large pension funds. McCord has innovatively streamlined operations, cut costs, and dramatically improved productivity to manage the agency as a “profit center” for the Commonwealth, generating four times more money than it costs to run the independent department – even before counting profits from Treasury’s investments.

As governor, McCord will continue to use his experience and expertise to make smart investments to support Pennsylvania’s middle class families, starting with investing in education. He’ll reverse the devastating cuts made by Governor Corbett to the K-12 system, he’ll continue to make sure students can afford higher education, and he’ll give families more access to high-quality early learning programs.

McCord will also work to support Pennsylvania’s seniors by protecting their pensions, helping them stay in their homes in their later years, and making sure they have access to the in-home care they need.

“Somewhere along the way we stopped investing in Pennsylvania families,” said McCord. “We started making things harder for them instead of creating more opportunities. We have to start investing in families again and that’s what I’ll do as governor.”